As she quietly closed the door to the boys' dorm behind her, Skylar heard the faint sounds of a strumming guitar fill the hall of the dorm. Following the music, she stopped in front of the door to the basement, which stood slightly ajar. Pushing it open further, she peeked into the darkness of the basement. A short flight of carpeted steps led down into the room, and the only light came from small windows set high into the walls. In the scant light Skylar could see Jono sitting on the couch against the wall, a guitar on his lap as he played a few chords. He looked up as she came down into the basement. "Hey," she said.

*'Ey, luv,*

Gingerly she navigated the cluttered floor of the basement, but she couldn't see very well and the floor was strewn with pillows and empty soda cans. As she neared the couch, she tripped on a video game controller and fell. She reached out and caught herself on the back of the couch, one hand on either side of Jono's head, before she could fall on him. He looked up at her, his face just inches from hers, and she grinned. "Oops," she said, her voice low.

His arm wrapped around her waist and he pulled her down beside him on the couch. *Be careful,* he cautioned. *Maybe I should turn on the lights.*

Leaning back, Skylar pulled her legs up under her. "I'm already sitting down," she said. "No use in turning them on now."

They sat in a comfortable silence for a few minutes, Skylar picking at the hem of her skirt while Jono picked the strings of his guitar. Suddenly Skylar said, "You didn't have to leave."

*I thought you and Rogue might want to be alone,* he said. *To say goodbye.*

"That's not why you left," she said quietly. And then, before she could stop herself, she added, "I'm sorry if I embarrassed you."

*I saved you from embarrassing yerself,* he replied. *Kissing a bloke like me would be an embarrassment for any gel.*

"You're too hard on yourself," Skylar said, placing her hand over his. "Why wouldn't a girl want to kiss you?"

He looked at her sardonically. *Three guesses, luv, and the first two don't count.* When she didn't answer, he continued. *Just look at me. I'm not exactly what you'd call normal.*

"Neither am I," she replied. "None of us are. If we were normal teenagers we'd be going to a public high school, learning about Pilgrims and algebra and puking on cafeteria food. But we're mutants, Jono. We're all the same." She laughed. "You told me that yourself. Now who's giving the pep talk to who? Remember what you told me when I first got here?"

He remembered. She had been so ready to just give up on the school and go back to L.A. But hadn't he been the one to tell her life wasn't as bad as it seemed? *Well,* Jono sighed, trying to change the subject, *I didn't want to accidentally blow yer head off for just a little kiss.*

"I would've reflected it back. Can't get rid of me that easily." Skylar thought a minute, and then grinned. "So who kissed you when you blew up the girls' dorm?"

Even in the darkened room, she could see the blush rise above the dark bandages on his cheeks. Leaning close to him, Skylar whispered into his ear, "Maybe you left because it wasn't me you wanted to kiss."

Jono jumped up from the couch and walked over to the windows, where a dingy light fell into the room. The windows were set high into the wall, level to the ground outside, and Jono folded his arms and leaned against the windowsill. *I've never met anyone like you,* he admitted, looking out the window at the late afternoon. *Don't get me wrong, Skylar. I really like you. Just --* He shrugged. *Just not in that way. I thought maybe but when you almost kissed me, all I could think about was . . .* Sighing, he shook his head. *It'd be like kissing my sister. That's how I think of you -- like the sister I never had.*

Skylar laughed. Jono turned to look at her, surprised -- he hadn't expected that kind of a reaction from her. "I thought it was just me," she said, "but I guess you can't control your heart. No matter who you want to like, your heart will go and fall for someone else." She smiled. "So who is she?"

*Why does it have to be someone here?* Jono turned back to the window but not before Skylar saw that blush in his cheeks again.

Grinning, she navigated her way over to the window and stood beside him. On tiptoes, she looked out the window. "Tell me it's not Jubilee," she whispered. "Please don't let it be her."

*God,* Jono groaned, and Skylar laughed again. *It's not her.*

"Can't be Monet," Skylar said. "She's too damn perfect." Beside her Jono nodded slightly. Looking at him sideways, she asked, "Ms. Frost? She's kinda old for you, and I think Mr. Cassidy already has the hots for her."

Jono looked at her, surprised. She laughed. "You didn't know? It's all but too obvious, dude, the way he looks at her sometimes."

*You don't miss a thing, do you, gel?* Before she could say anything else, he stopped her. *Don't say her name. I don't even know --*

Skylar sighed. "You like her, Jono. Admit it."

*What would she want with me?* He turned from the window and started to walk away, but Skylar grabbed his hands in hers and forced him to face her. She looked up into his face and smiled. His eyes glistened wetly in the light that fell into the room from the hallway, where the door wasn't quite shut. *Don't tell anyone,* he whispered.

Skylar sighed in an exaggerated manner. "Who would I tell? Paige and I aren't on the best of terms ever since she walked in on me and Angelo --" She cringed -- she could've slapped herself!

But Jono's eyes brightened. *Angelo, eh?*

"Well, I don't know how I feel about him, but --" Slowly she nodded, and he sighed in relief.

*'Ere I was afraid to tell you I didn't like you that way, and you had to come to tell me the same thing, eh?* Together they laughed, and Jono said, *I won't tell anyone if you won't?*

"Deal," Skylar said. "You were right, Jono -- we need something outside of this whole mutant gig to make life worthwhile. Friends?" she asked, looking up at him.

He hugged her close. *The best of.*

Neither of them heard the footsteps as Angelo walked away from the door of the basement, where he had seen them at the window in the darkness, seen them laugh and hug each other, but hadn't heard a word they said.

Skylar sat cross legged on her bed, a large textbook open on her lap. "Why do we have to study this stuff?" she asked, flipping through the pages of the book. "When will I ever use quantum physics in everyday life?"

Monet looked up from her own textbook, spread open on her bed. "Probably never," she said. She lay stretched out on the bed, her head propped on her hand, and continued reading. "But Forge will be here tomorrow as guest lecturer and Ms. Frost wants you to know a little something about the subject matter."

Sighing, Skylar turned back to the page she was on. "I've read this same sentence three times already, and I still don't know what it says!"

Suddenly, there was a knock on their door. "Come on in," Skylar called. When she looked up, the door swung open slowly and Angelo stood there, leaning against the frame.

Slowly, he smiled at her. "Hola, chica," he said in a low voice.

"Look who it is, Monet," Skylar said, motioning with a twitch of her head to the other side of the room so he would know she wasn't alone. Angelo pushed the door open further and came into the room. "It's Angelo."

"Hola, Monet," he said, nodding to her. Monet didn't look up from her book.

"Hey," she said. "Already finish your homework?"

He shrugged lazily. "I know it like the back of my hand," he said. "I'm tired of studying now -- thought I'd get a breath of fresh air, go for a walk. I wonder if either of you lovely chicas would like to come along?"

"I'll go," Skylar said, closing her book. She stood up and, setting the book on her desk, she grabbed her jacket off the back of her chair. "I could use a break from this stuff."

"What about the physics?" Monet asked.

"I'll read it before class," Skylar said off-handedly. "If I can't understand it now, I'm sure it won't be any easier in the morning."

Monet looked up from the book, a grin on her face. "I'll do it tomorrow," she mimicked, and Skylar balled up a piece of notebook paper and tossed it across the room. Monet batted the paper away. "You're going to fail."

Skylar leaned down over Monet's book, covering the text with her jacket. "At least I'll have fun while I'm at it."

"Go on," Monet said, pushing Skylar away playfully. "I'll give you a synopsis of the assignment before class."

"Why don't you just tell me what it's about?" When Monet looked up at her, Skylar laughed and hurried out into the hall, Angelo right behind her. He pulled the door closed behind him, and Skylar turned around. "Where'd you want to go?" she asked, tugging on her jacket.

He shrugged. "Just thought we could go for a walk," he said.

"Around campus?" Skylar frowned. "It's getting late."

"Never fear, chiquita," he said, draping an arm around Skylar's shoulders. A shiver ran down her spine from the warm weight of his arm, and she didn't shrug it off. Leaning close, he whispered into her ear, "I'll protect you."

"From what?" Skylar asked coyly. She led the way downstairs and out of the girls' dorm.

Outside the night air was brisk -- autumn was definitely coming quickly to Massachusetts. A slight breeze shook the tops of the trees, making the leaves rustle seductively in the darkness. Here and there halogen lamps lit the campus grounds, but no one else was out. Angelo led Skylar away from the dorm and the lighted paths, and they headed for a small baseball field built between the dorms. The metal bleachers glowed dully in the starlight, and the tan dirt of the field looked like quicksand in the night. Behind them, the lights from the dorm windows looked like beacons when Skylar looked back. "Angelo," she said, tugging at his hand where it rested on her shoulder. "We need to talk."

"About what?" he asked, leading her onto the field.

She shrugged. "I dunno. What do you want to talk about?" she asked. She wasn't sure what it was she wanted to say to him, but she liked the way his standing so close made her feel warm in the chilly evening air, and she suddenly wished the night would go on forever. The baseball field was edged by a thick carpet of lush grass that separated this side of the campus from the woods beyond. In the darkness the trees were just a dense black wall that rose up from the ground and stretched into the night sky above.

They walked slowly through the baseball field, dust rising as they passed, Angelo's arm around Skylar's shoulders, both her hands holding his. At the edge of the field, where a white line marked the end of the outfield, Angelo stopped and sat cross legged in the grass. He pulled Skylar down onto his lap, and she wrapped her arms loosely around his neck. Running his hands under her jacket and around her waist, he pulled her close. "Well," she said, her voice husky. Sitting on his lap, she was slightly higher than him, and when he looked up at her, she smiled. "So much for a walk."

"You have to admit, though -- this sure beats physics."

Skylar laughed. Resting her head on his shoulder, she said, "I'm really not sure this is the place for me. I mean, physics! That's a far cry from life on the streets of L.A."

He nodded, his hair tickling the back of her hand. Gently she ran her fingers through his hair, her breath fanning his neck. This close she could smell the faint musk of his cologne, and the chain of his cross glistened as it rolled slightly with each breath he took. When he turned and looked at her, she brushed his hair back from his eyes and watched him, watching her. Running a hand down the side of his face, Skylar whispered, "You sure have changed since then, Angelo."

He leaned his cheek against her palm. "Is that good or bad?"

Grinning, Skylar shrugged. "You used to have a wild streak in you," she said. "You were always getting into trouble."

Smiling, he pulled her tighter and leered at her. "I can still get into trouble," he joked.

"You know what I mean," she said, pushing him playfully. "You're different now."

"That sounds promising." He smiled. "All I need to do is get Jono out of the picture and --"

Skylar pulled back from him. "Jono?" she asked, incredulous. "What's he got to do with anything?"

Angelo shrugged. "I just thought --"

"Were you spying on me?" She pushed away from him, but he tightened his grip around her waist. "Angelo!"

"I didn't know you were in the basement!" he said defensively, but she stood up and started across the baseball field. Angelo hurried after her. "I was going to play the Sega and the door was closed -- the room's dark and I see you and Jono just standing there holding hands and what am I supposed to think?" He grabbed hold of her arm, and she whirled around. "Tell me, Sky. Just what am I supposed to think?"

Glaring at him, Skylar hissed, "Maybe you could think to ask me about it instead of jumping to conclusions."

"I told you I didn't want to be played," he warned. "Tell me now if I have a chance with you, Sky, because if I do, I don't want to lose it again. But if I don't, I don't want to be made a fool of. Don't play games with me."

She looked at him, a pleading expression in her eyes, unsure of what it was she wanted to say. Her lower lip trembled slightly, and she bit it to keep from crying. Tentatively she held out a hand to him, and he took it in both of his, a hopeful look on his face. "Angelo," she whispered tearfully. She allowed him to draw her towards him, her head down, afraid to meet his gaze. With one hand he lifted her chin, eager to hear what she had to tell him, and she looked up into his face. And then she looked past him and her eyes grew wide. "Angelo," she whispered again, but this time fear laced her words. He turned around to follow her gaze.

The earth shook as a large Sentinel robot landed between them and the woods. Its sight sensors gleamed evilly in the darkness, and its focus was entirely on them. "Halt, mutant," it blared, and Skylar let go of Angelo's hand to cover her ears. "You will be detained by NIR-980 and will be taken to the Determent Camp for questioning."

"¡Dios mio!" Angelo cried. Grabbing Skylar's arm, he pulled her with him back towards the dorm. "C'mon, chica -- we gotta tell the others."

"I can't believe it found me!" Skylar cried. She didn't move as the Sentinel ambled towards them. Angelo tugged at her arm, but she didn't budge. "How did it find me?"

"Sky!" he cried, and she snapped her head towards the sound of his voice. "We've got to get outta here!"

Nodding, she hurried after him. The ground shook with each step the Sentinel took, and Skylar couldn't help looking back over her shoulder. The robot was right on top of her! Angelo ran ahead of her, calling for her to catch up, but the Sentinel was too close, and the sight of the all too familiar nightmare robot frightened Skylar so badly she was almost tempted to just stand still and let it capture her. But it looked past her at Angelo as if it didn't see her -- as if she didn't register on its radar.

"Mutant: Espinosa, Angelo. Codename: Skin. Ability to elongate epidermis." The Sentinel began to reel off a long list of numbers that Skylar didn't understand, but she knew that Angelo was in trouble. Forcing her legs to run faster, she sprinted ahead of the robot and ran past Angelo, catching his arm and dragging him with her as she ran.

"Hurry!" she cried. But the night was dark -- they had wandered far from the halogen lights that blazed a few yards off -- and Angelo slipped in the wet grass and went down. Skylar, still holding onto the sleeve of his flannel shirt, was thrown off balance and tripped. She crashed to the ground a few feet beyond Angelo, and when she turned around, the Sentinel loomed in the sky like a bad dream. It zeroed in on Angelo with the single-mindedness of a hunter after prey.

"Run, Sky!" Angelo called. He looked at her pleadingly. "Get the others!"

"I won't leave you!" The Sentinel raised its arm and aimed at Angelo. Without thinking, Skylar pushed Angelo behind her. The palm of the Sentinel's hand split apart and a large laser emerged like a sixth finger, the barrel aimed at them. And then fire erupted from the barrel, and spiraled towards them.

"Skylar!" She heard Angelo call her name as the blast hit her full-force in the chest. The pain was much worse than the little laser from the Biosphere -- she could see the energy coruscating behind her eyes, her vision alive with orange fire. She felt the energy drill into her brain; she felt synapses flicker and shut down, and she felt herself losing consciousness. When the last of the energy entered her body, she felt every pore of her being tingle with the energy, and as it gathered itself towards her hands, she raised her arms and aimed back at the Sentinel.

With the little strength she had left, she whispered to Angelo, "Get back. I don't want to hurt you and I don't know what's going to happen."

Her body exploded with light as darkness dropped like a veil over her mind. She wondered if this is what it felt like to die.

When Emma Frost stormed into the Med-Lab, she found Monet hunched over a computer keyboard, typing furiously. On the monitor the fight with the Sentinel replayed in slow-motion, and numbers scrolled down the side of the screen. Beside Monet, a portion of the Sentinel's head rested on the desk, the metal charred and curled back to expose fried wires inside. The one eye of the robot glared at Emma balefully, winking in the bright lights overhead. Across the room, Angelo stood in front of the large glass window that looked into the hospital room where Skylar lay on a white bed. She could've been sleeping, Emma thought, except for the paleness of her skin and the faint but steady beep of the machine that monitored her vital signs. Neither Monet or Angelo looked up when Emma came in.

"What's happened?" Emma asked. She leaned on the back of Monet's chair and looked at the monitor. On the screen she saw Angelo running across the school's baseball field, along with a reading of statistics the Sentinel must have gathered from the mutant teen. But Skylar was nowhere in the video. "Monet, what's this?"

"Angelo and Skylar were attacked by a single Sentinel," Monet answered, not looking up from the screen.

Emma frowned. "Sentinels aren't solitary hunters, Monet. They are programmed machines that respond to the commands of their employers. And they are never dispatched alone."

"Well, this one was, señora," Angelo said from where he stood at the window. He stood with his arms folded tightly across his chest, and he frowned at Skylar's still form. "Alone -- and out to kill us."

Monet pointed at the monitor. "See here?" she said to Ms. Frost, as if she were speaking to a child. "The Sentinel didn't register Skylar's presence. Nothing appeared on its radar -- it thought Angelo was the only mutant in its line of fire."

"Where was Skylar?" Emma asked as Sean entered the room. He stood behind her and glanced at the screen before turning towards Angelo. "Why didn't the Sentinel see her?"

Monet shrugged. "We call her Ricochet, don't we? So far she's been able to reflect psionic and kinetic energy -- what's to say she can't ultimately reflect all forms of energy? What if she unconsciously reflects radar signals as well?"

"Since her powers are untested," Sean said, "we have to assume that anything is possible."

Emma frowned. "She's just a kid. Don't grant her the powers of a god."

"Whatever the reason," Monet interjected, "the Sentinel did not see Skylar. But what bothers me is that there is a signature file in the Sentinel's coding that matches Skylar's mutagenic signature exactly. The Sentinel was originally programmed to register that signature and act upon it regardless of what its visual sensors detected."

"Meaning?" Emma asked. Fear curled in the pit of her stomach. If this meant what she thought it meant, Skylar -- and the other students of Generation X -- might be in for a lot of trouble in the near future.

"Meaning that whoever sent the Sentinel knew what to look for." Monet turned around and looked at Emma. "Meaning that Skylar was the intent of the attack, not Angelo or any one of us."

"My God," Emma said quietly. Maybe that was the reason Professor X had invited the girl to the school -- maybe she had more potential than any of the other young mutants. And maybe someone other than Xavier knew of that potential and wished to harness it. "Well, if all it saw was Angelo, why is Skylar the one injured?"

Angelo spoke up without turning from the window. "She jumped in front of me," he said, his voice low. "The blast hit her dead on -- I don't know how she survived."

Monet tapped at the screen, where Angelo was lying prone on the ground. A yellow line entered the image -- the Sentinel's shot -- but before it hit Angelo it stopped as if hitting an invisible wall. The energy coalesced into a swirling ball of iridescence that continued to grow in brightness until the white light eclipsed the screen. Suddenly the white dissolved into static, and the screen went blank. "She ricocheted the blast back at the Sentinel," Monet explained, "effectively destroying it."

"I thought you said it was programmed to detect Skylar's signature," Sean said. "I would think it could compensate for her powers instead of destroying itself."

"I said it was originally programmed that way," Monet corrected. "This is an older Sentinel model, and there are traces of a computer virus in its mainframe that may have interfered with the programming."

As Emma leaned past Monet to take another look at the screen, Sean clapped a hand on Angelo's shoulder. "Don't worry, boyo," he said. "She's a tough lass -- she'll pull through."

Angelo sighed. "Have you ever wished you could take back something you said? Just rewind the tape and erase the hurtful words, take away the pain and start all over again?"

"Aye," Sean agreed. "But life cannae be that easy. You and Skylar had words earlier, I take it?"

Angelo nodded. "I hope I get a chance to tell her I'm sorry," he whispered.

"Me too," Sean said. "Me too."

When Skylar awoke, she found herself tucked into a hospital bed, the only sound the steady beep of a heart monitor. The last thing she remembered was telling Angelo to stand back, the Sentinel bearing down on her, the world erupting in light and then . . . nothing. Her whole body ached. Where was Angelo? What happened to the Sentinel? And why was she here alone in the Med-Lab?

Suddenly she heard a rustling of papers beside her. Monet sat next to her bed, her feet propped up on the edge of the mattress, an open textbook on her lap. She looked up from the notes she was scribbling into a notebook and smiled at Skylar. "You'll do anything to get out of class, won't you?"

Skylar laughed. "I probably would've slept through the lecture anyway. The Sentinel did me a favor -- at least I got out of physics."

"Quantum mechanics," Monet corrected. "You didn't miss much."

"I figured that." Skylar looked around the room. Opposite the bed was a large observation window like the one she had broken in Rogue's room, but no one was on the other side. She could see part of the Sentinel's head, staring blankly at her from a perch on a desk in that room. Well, she thought, that answers one question. "Where's Angelo?" she asked.

Monet shrugged. "He's fine. You took the brunt of the Sentinel's blast and ricocheted it back, destroying the robot. Since your powers seem to cancel out radar, the Sentinel didn't know you were there and didn't anticipate the retaliation."

Skylar looked at her quizzically. "So he's okay?" When Monet nodded, Skylar said, "Well, why didn't you just say so?" Monet stuck her tongue out at Skylar, who just grinned. "So where is everybody? I'd expect Ms. Frost to be here already, tearing into me about that damn tin can attack."

"That attack prompted her to hold a special lecture on the quantum mechanics behind the Sentinels."

Skylar groaned. "How'd you manage to get out of that one?"

"Someone had to watch over you. Besides," she added loftily, "I already know all of that."

They sat quietly for a few moments, Monet doing her schoolwork and Skylar listening to the drone of the heart monitor. The repetitious sound had almost lulled back to sleep when suddenly Monet closed her textbook and stood up to stretch. "You feeling better?" she asked.

Skylar nodded. "Just a little achy is all."

"Wanna get out of here?"

Smiling, Skylar threw off her covers and jumped out of bed. "I thought you'd never ask." She still wore the faded tank top and cut-off denim shorts from the night before. As she unhooked the sensor from her finger, the heart monitor flatlined and a high pitched buzz filled the room. She grabbed her leather jacket from the back of the chair Monet had been sitting in, and they headed out the door. "Where to?" she asked Monet, who shrugged.

"We can hang down by the river," she said, leading the way. "That's on the other side of campus from the lecture hall -- Ms. Frost can't make us go to class if she doesn't know where we are."

Grinning, Skylar looped her elbow around Monet's. "Ooh," she said. "Devious. You're learning quick."

Shaking her hair back from her face in a snobbish gesture, Monet replied, "I always do."

On the banks of the river, not far from the picnic table where Skylar last saw Rogue, grew a large sycamore whose branches hung low and stretched out over a small hill before reaching over the flowing river. Through the branches the sky looked as faded as Skylar's denim shorts, the green leaves dark in contrast with the bright afternoon sun. The hidden boughs of the tree looked inviting, and Monet quickly scaled the trunk and settled herself up among the highest branches, confident that she couldn't fall, having the ability to fly. Skylar climbed as high as the first few branches before the muscles in her arms began to ache again from the Sentinel's attack, and she abandoned the tree in favor of lying beneath it, stretched out on the lush grass of the small hill. She lay on her back with her arms tucked under her head, and she closed her eyes in the slight autumn breezes. Above her the rustle of leaves was the only thing that betrayed Monet's presence.

When Angelo found her a half hour later, Skylar was almost asleep, lulled by the soothing sounds of the river rushing beside her and the gentle breeze. Quietly he sat down beside her in the grass and watched the dappled shadows dance across her face. With her eyes closed and her breathing even, she looked innocent -- it was hard to imagine her as the same tough-as-nails chica who he knew back in Los Angeles. He was so glad that she had managed to get off of the streets, and the fact that she was here in Massachusetts made his leaving home a little easier. If only she would let him start all over again, forget the past and let him show her how he felt about her, how he had always felt about her.

He plucked a buttercup from the ground and twirled the flower between his fingers, watching the sunlight play on its yellow petals. Gently he ran the flower around Skylar's forehead, just underneath the fall of her bangs. He traced the curve of her cheek with the bud, caressing her lips and tickling her nose with the flower, smiling when she scrunched up her face unconsciously. Taking the flower away, he leaned down and kissed her on the lips.

Instantly her eyes flew open. As he pulled back, he smiled at the wide-eyed expression on her face. "I thought you were Monet," she said, a little breathless.

"Does she often wake you with kisses?" Angelo asked.

Narrowing her eyes, she smiled wryly. "No," she replied. "How're you doing?"

He shrugged. "Fine. It's you I'm worried about. You probably saved my life."

She closed her eyes. "Did not."

"Did too," he said, running the flower down the inside of her arm. "My power would've been useless against the Sentinel. If it hadn't been for you, I would be in the Med-Lab instead."

"I'm not there any more," she said coyly. "Besides, my power was useless until the Sentinel attacked. If it had stepped on us instead of shooting, we'd both be dead."

"But we're not," Angelo pointed out. "Thanks to you."

Skylar scrunched up her eyebrows and dismissed the comment. When she didn't say anything more, Angelo said, "I'm sorry about what I said earlier."

"'Bout what?" she asked, her eyes closed again.

"About Jono."

She opened one eye. "You keep bringing him up when we're together," she said, looking at him. "Would you rather be with him than me? Cause I can get him for you, you know, if you want him lying here instead."

Smiling, Angelo shook his head. "That's not what I meant, Sky."

"Then don't think about him. I'm not."

"Oh?" Angelo traced the flower around her midriff, where her tank top pulled up slightly, exposing a thin sliver of skin. "And what are you thinking about?"

Closing her eyes again, she smiled. "Today. The warm sun, the cool breeze, the way that flower is tickling my stomach, the way your knee is almost touching my elbow but not quite . . ." Before she could finish, he leaned down to kiss her again, but she pulled away. "Careful," she whispered. "We aren't alone."

"Oh?" Angelo asked again. Looking around, he saw no one, and he turned back to her. Without a word, she nodded up, and he leaned back to look up at the branches of the tree that hung over them.

High above him was Monet, stretched out along one of the limbs of the tree like a cat. She was looking down at them, and when he looked up, she smiled. "Hey, guys."

"Hi, Monet," Skylar called up.

"Didn't know you were there," Angelo muttered. Suddenly a fit of giggling erupted from the other side of the tree. Turning his head around, Angelo saw Leech and Artie hiding behind the tree, peeking out at them. "Looks like we've got quite an audience," he said. Skylar leaned her head back to look at the kids, who giggled again.

Suddenly Leech called out in a sing-song voice, "Skin and Ric'shey, sittin' in a tree --"

Before he could get any further, Angelo jumped up and raced around the tree. The two kids ran off, peals of laughter following in their wake, and Angelo followed, tackling the boys and rolling with them on the ground playfully. "Be careful, you guys," Skylar called out as she sat up, but it was no use -- the boys were too busy rough-housing to pay any attention to her. She pulled her knees up to her chest and hugged them close as Monet dropped out of the tree and landed next to her, sitting in a similar position. "I guess boys will be boys, eh?" Skylar asked.

Monet flipped her hair back. "Angelo can be so juvenile at times. It's hard to believe he's the same age as we are."

Remembering the warmth of his lips on hers, Skylar smiled. "No, it's not." She looked out over the river. "Class must be over by now. Wonder when I'll be summoned to the principal's office again?"

"It wasn't your fault the Sentinel attacked," Monet said.

"No," Skylar agreed, "but isn't it odd that it attacked me? Just one more thing for Ms. Frost to throw back at me. That woman wants me expelled."

Monet smiled. "I think she wants both of us expelled."

Suddenly someone called out their names. Looking around, Skylar saw Paige running over to them. "There's the teacher's pet now," Skylar said, and Monet laughed. "She's the only one of us that Ms. Frost actually likes."

"Hey, you guys," Paige said, stopping to catch her breath. "Wanna go to the game with us tonight?"

"What game?" Monet asked.

"The Salem High football game," Paige replied. "It's a JV game but it'll get us off campus, let us mingle with the townies. Whaddya say?"

"Football?" Monet asked disdainfully.

Angelo came up behind them, Leech hanging onto his arm, Artie holding tight to his leg. "Football! I haven't been to a good game in ages! Count me in."

Pleadingly, Skylar looked at Monet, hoping she would get her meaning without her having to say anything in front of Paige. The idea of a football game sounded appealing -- the crisp night and the faceless crowd might be just the thing she needed to figure out how she felt about Angelo. And with him there, maybe they could get together somewhere and talk -- under the bleachers, perhaps -- somewhere alone like last night. A Sentinel wouldn't attack them at a high school football game. "Let's go," she said to Monet.

Monet sighed. "I hate football," she said.

"It's not like you've got other plans," Skylar cajoled.

Monet sighed again, and Skylar smiled, knowing she would go. Paige said, "Great! We can all sit together! I love football games. Back home --"

Skylar sighed. This better be worth it, she thought.